Another Update.... to my countdowns

If you look at my countdowns again, you will notice that they have changed. I have, after long thought, pushed back my goals one year. I have made this choice because of everything that is happening this year. I am having a daughter in two months, and am trying to buy a home. Most of my determination and money, will be going into those. This is not a hard decision for me, because I have a great goal this year, the Chicago Marathon. But time and money are a constraint, and Steph and I have agreed to push the Ironman back one year. I will continue to train for the triathlon, and keep up as much as I can with the training. I will be cranking it out next year, and I know that I will have the support of my friends and family throughout this decision and the grueling regimen required to train for an Ironman.

Long Run #2/Long Ride #2

Saturday's long run this week was 10 miles, but mine ended up being about 10.3, not much different. My total elevation gain was just under 1000ft, which is an incredible training tool. I love the hills out here in Portland, not only am i faster up the hills, but also on the flats. Overall, it was a great run. Not very hot in the morning, but I believe the high hit about 82 during the day. We've been having great weather out here and it's been putting everyone in a great mood. Had a hammer gel around mile 5, or halfway. Trying to test out my nutrition during the run. Seeing what works best is better to do in my training, then during a race when it counts. It didn't upset my stomach at all, but I'm interested to see how it works when I take 3 or 4 of them. My 20 miler will be the true test.

Sunday was another gorgeous day. I went out for a bike ride with my boss, Nick. He took me out on his side of town, and put me to shame! We went out for about 33 miles and over 1000 feet of climbing. I felt slow and out of shape. It was always me just trying to keep up, forget about pushing the pace. I was just struggling to keep up. The weather was great though. I think when we went out at 2, it was about 80. I got a nice sunburn too:


My legs were burnt as well. Not as bad, but you can see my fabulous farmers tan now. At least I don't look like a complete ghost now, and I got a little color.

It was a great weekend and I was feeling it Monday morning. It's been since last season that I have put myself through that much in a weekend, and my body was not used to it. I love that feeling though, because you know the next time, it will be slightly easier.

Tuesday was a team run with H2C, although it was also the chili cook off at work, so it was only Tim and I that went out for a run. It was super hot, so we cut the 4.5 miler down to 3.5 to get back and hydrate before we passed out.

Great week so far, and I'm looking forward to another weekend of sun.

Long Ride #1

Last Sunday was the first long ride of the year, and I felt FAT!! I was slow and the hills felt harder than ever. I'm hoping this changes quickly with all the work I'm putting in during the week, including weights and time on the stationary bike.

About the ride: Cold and wet! It was raining the entire ride, but would change amounts. At some points, it was a slight drizzle, and others; a downpour. Good thing I brought my vest, it kept me minimally dry. I had only shorts on as well, and that kept some more water away as well, but it was cold. My feet were soaking wet and numb when the ride was over.

I went out with Mike, Dianne and her cousin Mark. We did the usual 27.5 loop, but skipped some turns, to edit it a little. None of us were up for making it any longer than it had to be. :-)

After the ride, I got into my car, with a towel on my seat (thankfully I remembered my towel) and turned the heat up full blast to get the feeling back in my feet. I think I'm going to need to get some booty's to keep my feet covered in the cold and rain.

Overall, it felt awesome to be back on the bike and out for a ride. Not saying I liked the weather, but I can't wait for this weekend. Temps in the mid 70's and sunshine. With a long run on Saturday and hopefully a long ride on Sunday with Nick, it will be a fantastic weekend.

Long Run #1

Today was my first long run for my marathon training plan in preparation for the 2009 Chicago Marathon. It actually went really well, considering I only did 8.5 miles. I have been training for a half marathon for the past 3 months, and my longest run this year has been 14 miles. The hills were brutal by my house, but I managed to make it up, hitting about a 14:00/mile pace. The run felt great, and I managed to stay hydrated with my fuel belt. Next week I'll have to start trying out different ways to get my carbs/sugar/sodium down. I'll grab a few different gels this week and give them a try. Most of the time, Gu has worked for me, but I've also had bad things happen with Gu. I'll try some hammer gel, maybe some powerbar gels, and a few accel gels.

Tomorrow I'm going for a ride with good ole Mike Green. It's been a long time since we've gotten a ride in. As long as the rain stays away for a couple hours in the morning, we'll be great. I can't wait to get an actual ride in, and not a "joy" ride. I'll report on that tomorrow.

Pacing Race for the Roses

Last Saturday I paced for Race for the Roses. I volunteered to help people reach their goal. I paced for the 8:30/mile group. That would put my finish time at 1:51:20. I finished at 1:51:00. My average pace was 8:28/mile, that's why I'm a great pacer. I kept it even the entire time, didn't start too fast and tried to balance it on the hills. Going around 9:30 up the hills, and around 7:30 down hill. I had a group of around 8-10 until after mile 12, where I started to turn it up a notch. At the end of the race, you go up to the steel bridge, it's quite a hill if you're not familiar. I cranked it up, and dropped my group. One of the girls managed to catch up to me as I slowed down near the finish.

Tim from work ran this race as well. He did great, and finished at 1:44:20, just a tad slower than me. Nice work!

It was also another great day for racing. The sun decided to come up and it stayed in the 50's for the race. It was a great day and a great race. I even got the car washed after I came home and took a nap.

ING Georgia Half Marathon

I set a PR!!! This was a great race for me. My best ever. The weather was great, low 50's and sun came up about half way through the race, then went away before I could finish. My legs felt great, strong and light until around mile 12. Not sure what happened, I should have geled, but didn't have any, so the 0nly carbs/sodium/sugar I could take were the glasses of Gatorade they were handing out.

My finish time was 1:43:24, average pace of 7:54/mile. Not too shabby, considering the hills that were on the course. I felt very good about the race in general. My father in law didn't do too bad either, he had a cold and kept his boss company during the race. He finished just under 2:20. Not bad at all.

Overall, it was a great visit to Atlanta with the in-laws. We got to see the city and the World of Coke. That was quite interesting, learning about the different brands of coke from around the world and how coke came to be.